


From the inside

by oceantears



Series: Five plus one (six for gold) [6]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Another work in progress, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, On top of all the other ones i have, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Photographic Memory, Pining Derek, Pining Spencer, Warning might change later on!, You know what i need?, eidetic memory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-06-30 19:05:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15757839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceantears/pseuds/oceantears
Summary: The five times Reid loved his memory plus the one time he hated it





	1. Smile

**Author's Note:**

> Written by me  
> English isn't my first language, please point out where I made mistakes!  
> The chapters will be every short and mostly sweet and also probably not updated frequently, sorry!  
> The warning might change later on!!!  
> I hope you enjoy this story and comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! :)  
> PS: The facts about the sun are from wikipedia, so I guess they must be correct. ^^

Reid had always thought that comparing a person's smile to the sun was ridiculous.

Who liked being compared to a giant star? And why exactly would anyone compare a _smile_ to a sphere of hot plasma, weighing 1.9885×1030 kilograms, consisting of hydrogen and helium?  
There was no correlation between those two things and while he had seen some pretty smiles, he had never felt the need to compare them to anything, especially not the _sun._

Until now, at least. 

 

Not that he wanted to match Derek Morgan's smile with the sun now, no, but he couldn't help but wish that he had something, _anything_ , he could contrast it to, see if there was a thing that matched this smile in its brilliance and happiness.

Spencer didn't think there was anything, honestly. 

 

Derek Morgan was smiling at him, happily, full of warmth and satisfaction because Spencer had just agreed to come to his Christmas party. It was as if he had given him the best present possible and Spencer didn't understand why.

But the _why_ didn't matter, not when Derek was turning away, so that his back faced Reid's face and now he couldn't see his face, his smile anymore.

 

Oh well.  
It didn't really matter because Spencer had already captured it in his head, had saved the smile, a picture that would smile at Spencer as often as he wanted it to.

 

But now he did need a comparison or an analogy to the smile because it was simply unacceptable that it would stand in his mind unrivalled, the most beautiful thing he'd seen, brilliant, bright and _blinding_ with all Derek's happiness.

 

Oh. Yes, _now_ Spencer could definitely see why people compared some smiles to the sun.


	2. Compliment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait!  
> This is for Kingalexdreaming, who left a lovely comment on the last chapter.  
> I hope you enjoy this one! :)

The whole team was at a bar, celebrating the completion of a case that had drained all of them and would leave traces for the next few nights to come, would wake everyone on the team up with nightmares more than once.

 

But this was the way it had always been, because their job had never been easy and it never would be. It was hard for every single one of them but sometimes, it was worse for some than for others.

Today it was especially hard for Reid. 

 

He was tired and emotionally drained, was barely able to keep his eyes open but he had wanted to come to the bar because he knew that being alone right now was not a good idea in his state.

He was sitting in between Derek and Garcia, eyes half-closed and posture relaxed. But his mind was racing, the details from the case repeating themselves in his head, the same few pictures over and over again - the victim, lying dead on the ground, the killer, pointing his gun at the victim's terrified mother. And the mother, oh the mother - she had awakened memories of his own mother, memories he had buried long ago. Memories which were brutal, overshadowed by paranoia and the feeling of helplessness.

 

Reid's sickening, swirling thoughts were interrupted by Garcia, who rose from her seat to get another drink and the sudden loss of heat on his right side made Reid shudder involuntarily.  
Morgan noticed and leaned closer to his friend.

"You alright?"

The older man looked concerned and worried. Reid nodded and tried schooling his face into a more neutral expression.

"I'm fine. Today was tough, that's all." 

Morgan didn't look convinced though, so Reid added: "But I think I'll get some fresh air. It's hot in here, isn't it?"  
Morgan merely hummed and stood up, letting Reid climb out the booth, then he promptly followed the younger man to the exit, throwing a reassuring smile at Hotch, who looked at them worriedly.

 

It was cold outside and Reid cursed himself for leaving his coat in the bar. He sighed and leaned against the wall, eyes closed. He felt Morgan relax next to him, and they simply stayed like that for a few minutes, breathing slowly and steadily.  
Then, a warm hand fell on his shoulder, squeezing softly.

 

"You did well today," said Morgan. Reid opened his eyes and found his friends looking at him fondly.  
"I'm proud of you. You were incredibly brave, even though the case must've been tough for you. But we couldn't have solved it without you."

Morgan smiled gently and took a step back, giving Reid a bit more space.

 

"I'll wait inside, yes?", he asked softly and left as the younger man nodded.

 

The door closes behind him with a soft 'click' and Reid shut his eyes again. Although still exhausted, he felt better than he had just mere minutes ago.  
He smiled, a quiet, private smile, closed his eyes and willed the past few moments (and especially Derek's compliment) to stay in his memoy forever.


End file.
